Sunday 3rd August 2008, and with the previous week's trip to the Highlands out of the way, normal service was resumed this fine summer morning.

It's never easy to predict who's going to turn out these days, but at least the surprises were pleasant, unlike the last two-man Sunday excursion by Chris K and the Gollum. These two were back for more today, with Chris now being a regular NMBC Trekker since he discovered us and I discovered how close he lives! Chris must take a large slice of the blame for me now also being a Trek owner, having sampled his very appetising Fuel EX-8 at Kielder when we first met him and his clan. And although we all rant about this or that bike being a good 'un, I can confidently state that anyone who buys one of these will not be disappointed.

So, who else braved the unpredictable but currently stable weather for this one - Steve W, Tim (been busy at home moving house lately), Steve B back for the weekend from the Deep Sarf where his new job currently has him posted, Keith, once more providing backup transport, Ian F, now resident in Forest Hall and Derek who also took his car today with another bike hanging off the back.

We got away a short while after 09:00 almost as planned and were off to Hexham, where waiting in the Riverside car park for us was Steve R, aka Singlespeed Steve, of Reivers fame. That's his tribute to an old riding pal on our front page, in case you didn't know. While this was Derek's ride, he was going to rely on Steve to fill in the blanks as we didn't have a map of the area between us and it's a while since he did this one. Now there's one very nasty, obnoxious, even nauseous side to being on a ride with this particular Steve (Steve No 4?), and that is his propensity for successfully tackling steep slopes on his singlespeeder that have most 27 gear bods walking! I remember trying Derek's last year some time, and they're crap!

We eased out of the car park at 10:09 am after wasting precious minutes trying to contact another person who was supposed to meet us there but didn't. Weather not too bad with patches of blue scattered across a cloudy sky. First Steve R, then Derek led us along the riverside a short way before turning in towards the town, and taking us into Aldi's car park, where Derek slowed and began to circle. After a few minutes of this caper, with the rest of us doing the same, the Gollum decided it may be an opportune moment to ask D just exactly why we were there. "To meet XXXX, you stupid German First World War Tri-plane!". "But I just texted him and he ain't comin'!" replied the bemused Gollum. "You didn't tell me, you b@st@rd" retorted Derek. Communication, Communication, Communication! We turned around and backtracked to the river again.

Very entertaining little singletrack along the edge of the Golf Course here, taking us out beneath the A69 and a dodgy little rock garden simply not designed to be crossed by any vehicle with wheels. A bit further on Tim hung himself on a small tree as the trail dipped under and around it. Didn't expect this much excitement so early on.

It wasn't long before we engaged in that great sport, Gate Opening (and closing!), as we crossed the landscape mainly on farmland in these parts, with short tarmac connecting stretches, but also a surprisingly plentiful amount of singletrack, both exposed and through woodland. Keith remained consistent in moaning about grass under his pedals but we'll bring him round eventually, or he'll stop when he knows we're all ignoring him. At least he'll get a little break from it when he tackles some of the Morzine (French Alps) trails shortly!

The cloud didn't burn off but it was still plenty warm. We sidled over to Simonburn and had our lunch stop at the Tea Shop where the scones and gateaux went down very well. Unless you were Skippy, of course. Steve B thought it would be cool to challenge himself to eat not only a goodly Slice of Strawberry Suicide, but also a fair old Chunk of Chocolate Choker, one after the other. He may have got away with one or t'other, but downing both had him reeling like a hippy on a trip, and almost spewing up. Just as well we weren't doing some evil downhill as we were last week!

Just as we were finishing off, the rain started, so it was a mad stampede to the rainproofs. No sooner had we donned them and it stopped again, never to return! Outside the garden gate the Gollum tried to resume his lost-cause Committee Meeting from within the grounds. On the agenda were NMBC summer riding tops and where to ride next Sunday. It was Golly himself who was causing bother with the ride venue, as he was half hoping for an early finish so he could take the missus away for a short holiday having already had his own with the lads up yonder.

So he fought off suggestions from Keith's corner for Glentress, but still wanted something appetising to squeeze between the XC and local rides. Someone, either Tim or Ian F, I think, suggested Kielder and that went down pretty well with the gathering. So. Another likely order for shirts going in, but black rather than brown to suit Skippy's tastes, and Kielder this Sunday, 10th August, leaving Holystone at 09:00am. Meeting closed.

On we rode, more of the same mix with a couple of moorland crossings and some fast downhill burn-ups, and the odd disused quarry to play in for a few minutes. Although the open ground was much firmer than any of us expected, there was plenty of goo and clarts in the trees and the odd foot must have got stinky as we paddled through a few troughs. Nothing as rough as past journeys had been, however, and no bike carrying needed. The nearest we got to a mechanical was Chris K suspecting thorn damage, but the one he spotted must have ripped itself back out of his tyre without breaking through the carcass.

Here's the GPS route, thanks for the loan of the Garmin E-Trex, Derek. I've created it in pdf format for a change so you can use Adobe Acrobat Reader to zoom in and actually see the place names clearly. Will probably do this forever now. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me again - it's in our little house somewhere but since Daughter Three moved back in, everything is buried under her kit for a year or two. May find a pic from "someone" later!

We were back at the Cave around mid-afternoon time. Ride was about 20 miles. Nice one, and thanks to Derek and Steve for showing us some of the more cultivated but no less breathtaking views of West Northumberland.

Keep watching and if you fancy a ride out with us, drop us a line here: bailout@midaircrisis.org.uk